In 2012, a mold infestation shut down a Canadian plant that manufactured the BCG TB vaccine. Because the plant belonged to a supplier that was one one of just two that dominated the market, it has contributed to a global shortage of the vaccine (File photo)

“We are still seeing far too many children with diarrhoea and respiratory infections,” said Rees, who was speaking at the International Women’s Forum in Johannesburg yesterday.

It is estimated that two million children globally died in 2013 from preventable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and measles. Measles is one of the most common childhood diseases in children under the age of two.

“If we can get 90 percent coverage of children with measles vaccinations we can literally save millions of lives,” Rees told Health-e News.

In 2012, government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) released very different estimates of South Africa’s measles vaccination rates. Government cited 100 percent coverage while WHO estimated that only 79 percent of children had been immunised.

Both estimates are based on problematic data but what is clear is that South African measles vaccines are not reaching the 95 percent of children needed to eliminate new cases.